Former Chibi-Robo developers announce spiritual successor koROBO

A new studio formed by former Chibi-Robo developers has announced a spiritual successor.

Tiny Wonder Studio, which includes key members of the Skip Ltd studio which worked on Chibi-Robo on the GameCube, have revealed koROBO, a new 3D platformer starring a similar protagonist.

The game will be directed by Kenichi Nishi, who was a former co-founder of Skip and the co-director of the original Chibi-Robo game.

He will be joined by Hiroshi Moriyama (the other co-director of Chibi-Robo), Keita Eto (co-director of Chibi-Robo Zip Lash), Hirofumi Taniguchi (the composer for Chibi-Robo) and ‘Hikarin’ (a character designer on Chibi-Robo).

A Kickstarter campaign for the game will launch on July 22, with the aim being to release the game on PC and consoles if enough funding is achieved.

Revealed during the ongoing BitSummit event in Kyoto, the game tells the story of koROBO and their 10-year-old owner Tom.

Starting in Tom’s room, koROBO eventually gets to explore the rest of their family’s apartment in ‘Brocklyn, New Yock’.

“As koROBO, [players] will help out the family, perform tasks around the home, meet the many denizens that inhabit the apartment building, and defend Tom and those he loves from a mysterious enemy… that can travel through space-time,” the studio says.

As in the Chibi-Robo games, koROBO’s battery is limited and drains as they perform tasks. Whereas Chibi-Robo had to plug into to recharge, however, koROBO has a solar battery attached to their back, meaning players can recharge by finding patches of sunlight.

Players will be able to collect attachments and upgrades throughout the game, eventually enabling the ability to fly, swim and travel through time.

“Our goal is to create a game that everyone can enjoy, so koROBO is intended to be a cozy and comfy game that we hope everyone will fall in love with,” Ishi said in a statement.

“The core of koROBO is all about bringing people together and working towards a better tomorrow and this campaign, combined with your support, is a wonderful opportunity to bring fans of video games together – something that would make our tiny hero proud!”